On the go: Members of the defined contribution section of the HSBC Bank (UK) Pension Scheme have been affected by a’ suspension of several property funds due to the Covid-19 crisis.
In an update on its website, the trustees of the hybrid scheme stated that members who have investments in the property fund cannot pay contributions into it or switch out or sell any part of their DC pension pot that is invested in this fund.
The trustees said: “As a result of reduced activity in the property market due to Covid-19, two of the underlying property fund managers do not believe valuations of the property portfolio are currently reliable enough to ensure members can gain a fair price and to protect them from material mispricing.”
With £83m in assets under management at the end of 2019, HSBC’s property active fund invests in vehicles managed by Columbia Threadneedle and Legal & General.
In March, a string of eight asset managers closed their doors to dealing in their open-ended UK property funds amid the coronavirus crisis.
Kames Capital was the first to gate, announcing it had suspended trading due to “turbulent market conditions”, and soon Janus Henderson, Aviva Investors, Aberdeen Standard Investments, L&G, BMO, St James’s Place and Columbia Threadneedle had gated their equivalent funds.
